Young Folks Treasury, Volume 3 (of 12) eBook

Now Aladdin had meanwhile prepared a powder which
he directed the Princess to place in her own wine-cup.
So when the Magician returned with the African wine,
she filled her cup and offered it to him in token
of friendship. The Magician drank it up eagerly,
and scarcely had he finished when he dropped down
dead.

Then Aladdin came out of the next chamber where he
had hidden himself, and searched in the Magician’s
robe until he found the Magic Lamp. He rubbed
it joyfully, and when the Genie appeared, ordered that
the palace should be carried back to China, and set
down in its own place.

The following morning, when the Sultan rose early,
for he was too sad to take much rest, he went to the
window to gaze on the place where Aladdin’s
palace had once stood. He rubbed his eyes, and
stared wildly about.

“This must be a dream,” he cried, for
there stood the palace in all its beauty, looking
fairer than ever in the morning light.

Not a moment did the Sultan lose, but he rode over
to the palace at once, and when he had embraced Aladdin
and his daughter, they told him the whole story of
the African Magician. Then Aladdin showed him
the dead body of the wicked old man, and there was
peace between them once more.

But there was still trouble in store for Aladdin.
The African Magician had a younger brother who also
dealt in magic, and who was if possible even more
wicked than his elder brother.

Full of revenge, this younger brother started for
China, determined to punish Aladdin and steal the
Magic Lamp for himself. As soon as he arrived
he went in secret to the cell of a holy woman called
Fatima, and obliged her to give him her robe and veil
as a disguise. Then to keep the secret safe he
killed the poor woman.

Dressed in the robe and veil, the wicked Magician
walked through the streets near Aladdin’s palace,
and all the people as he passed by knelt and kissed
his robe, for they thought he was indeed the holy
woman.

As soon as the Princess heard that Fatima was passing
by in the street, she sent and commanded her to be
brought into the hall, and she treated the supposed
holy woman with great respect and kindness, for she
had often longed to see her.

“Is not this a fine hall?” she asked,
as they sat together in the hall of the jeweled windows.

“It is indeed most beautiful,” answered
the Magician, who kept his veil carefully down, “but
to my mind there is one thing wanting. If only
thou couldst have a roc’s egg hung in the dome
it would be perfect.”

As soon as the Princess heard these words she became
discontented and miserable, and when Aladdin came
in, she looked so sad that he at once asked what was
the matter.

“I can never be happy until I have a roc’s
egg hanging from the dome of the great hall,”
she answered.

“In that case thou shalt soon be happy,”
said Aladdin gaily, and taking down the lamp, he summoned
the Genie.